Late Chiefs player received a posthumous pardon from President Trump
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- President Trump granted a posthumous pardon to former Chiefs player Billy Cannon.
- Cannon served 2½ years after a 1983 counterfeiting case involving $6 million.
- His daughter thanked Trump and officials, saying one mistake shouldn't define him.
The daughter of late Chiefs tight end Billy Cannon praised President Donald Trump for including her father among five former NFL players who received a pardon last week.
Cannon, who won the Heisman Trophy at LSU, was the first overall pick of the 1960 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams. But he chose instead to sign with the Houston Oilers of the upstart American Football League.
After four seasons as a halfback with the Oilers, Cannon went to the Raiders, where he switched to tight end. In 1970, he signed with the Chiefs and played his final season in Kansas City. He caught seven passes for 125 yards and two touchdowns.
Cannon became an orthodontist when his playing days ended, but in 1983, he and five others were charged with printing $6 million worth of counterfeit $100 bills, the Daily Advertiser reported.
ESPN said it was the seventh-largest counterfeiting case in U.S. history.
“If you’re asking me why I did this, I still don’t know why,” Cannon said in federal court, according to the Advertiser. “What I did was wrong, terribly wrong.”
Sentenced to five years in prison, Cannon served 2 1/2 years, per the Daily Advertiser.
Cannon died in 2018 at the age of 80. His daughter, Bunnie, shared a Facebook post praising Trump and others for the pardon.
“Thank you to everyone who had something to do with this,” she wrote. “During his lifetime no matter how much good my father did he could not outrun his failures. One mistake does not and should not define you! Thank you Alice Johnson, our elected officials in Washington and President Trump for this gift to our family. FOREVER #20.”
Here are highlights of Cannon from X user Kevin Gallagher.
This story was originally published February 20, 2026 at 10:40 AM.
